EAC-USAID hold Technical Bilateral Meeting on the sidelines of COP22
A Technical working-level bilateral meeting was held today between the officials of East African Community and United States Agency for International Development (USAID), on the sidelines of the ongoing 22nd Session of the Conference of Parties (COP22) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the 12th Meeting of Parties to Kyoto Protocol (CMP12) taking place in Bab Ighli in Marrakech, Morocco.
Leading the USAID Team was Mr. John Furlow, the Senior Climate Change Specialist based in Washington, DC, while the EAC Team was led by Mr. Jean Baptiste Havugimana, the Director of Productive Sectors and accompanied by Mr. Ladislaus Kyaruzi, the Principal Environment and Natural Resources Officer who heads the EAC Climate Change Coordination Unit, and other Senior officials.
The EAC and USAID officials discussed the ongoing projects supported by USAID and noted tremendous milestones being recorded for example in the Planning for Resilience in East Africa through Policy, Adaptation, Research, and Economic Development (PREPARED) project, which has effectively taken root in the region.
Other projects include the Aflatoxin Control Programme and the Sanitary and Phytosanitary Programmes meant to ensure high quality agricultural, livestock and fishery products for intra Community trade, regional trade and external trade especially with USA under the AGOA trade facility.
The EAC Director of Productive Sectors, Mr. Jean Baptiste Havugimana, noted that the establishment of both the Project Implementation Committee (PIC) and the Project Coordination Committee (PCC) at the EAC Secretariat had greatly enhanced coordination of the various projects being supported by various partners and also improved on accountability, efficiency and value for money.
The EAC Director highlighted the 5 key priority areas for the next one year as follows; continued implementation of the Regional Climate Change Policy, which was adopted by the EAC Policy Organ in 2011; implementation of the tools developed by PREPARED on climate change vulnerability impact and strengthening data availability in the Partner States; implementation of the Anti-poaching and fight against illegal trafficking of wildlife and wildlife products strategy; sustainability of the Climate Change Coordination Unit at the EAC Secretariat; and lastly; implementation of the EAC Roadmap for implementation of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.